


Fresh Start

by Joylee



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Modern AU, Rumbelle Christmas in July (Once Upon a Time), anti-milah, background relationship: Snowing, no magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:14:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25524223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joylee/pseuds/Joylee
Summary: Belle's initial pity on the newly divorced single father who has moved in across the street from her friends the Nolans is growing into something else.  But is he really what he seems?
Relationships: Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold
Comments: 7
Kudos: 84





	1. The Set Up

**Author's Note:**

  * For [notalwayslate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/notalwayslate/gifts).



> For Notalwayslate for the 2020 Rumbelle Christmas in July. Her prompt was -- long lingering looks

She was greeted at the door by an excited 10 year old. “Belle, guess what! We have new neighbors! And they have kids!”

“Really? Well, that’s wonderful, Emma.” Belle had to smile at her friends’ daughter. “Have you met them?”

“No.” This detail did not seem to reduce her excitement any. “But they have a really cool playset with _two_ slides and a castle.”

Mary Margaret let her daughter fill Belle in on the wonders of the playset workers had set up in the backyard of the house across the street while she brewed tea. Then sent the girl off with a cookie to play as she and Belle settled down in her ‘office’ -- the end of her dining table closest to the dormer window that looked out over what Mary Margaret referred to as the cul de sac. Belle thought of it as ‘the enclave’. 

The houses along this street had been built in the Nineteenth century with the fortunes earned by the shipping and mining magnates of that era. It was an odd little pocket of aging Victorian splendor not fitting into either blue collar Storybrooke or the Summer People with their vacation homes along the north side of the inlet who supplied much of the town’s income. Mary Margaret was the only descendant of the original magnates still living in her family’s home, having inherited it, and apparently little else, from her mother. 

As Mary Margaret poured the tea, she told Belle. “I’m as glad as Emma that a family bought the old Winfield house. It’s been on the market for over a year now. And the heirs were trying to get it rezoned multifamily so that they could sell it to Belfrey Development Company. I’d hate to see that happen. It’s an historic landmark.”

Whose history was best not examined too closely. Belle wondered if the buyers knew the house had been built by a factory owner whose labor practices had been horrifying. “So the new buyer isn’t going forward with the rezoning?”

“Apparently not since they’ve been doing a complete restoration of the house. The only visible anachronisms are the playset and a satellite dish for internet.” Mary Margaret waved at the house. “The painters were even told to match the original colors. I’m not sure they realized that they were going to get a pink and green exterior when they did that.

“Not that it isn’t attractive.” Mary Margaret added hastily.

It was actually. “Sounds like your new neighbors are history buffs. I look forward to meeting them. Now what sort of integrated program are we going to plan for the third graders?”

Belle did not have long to wait to meet the new neighbors. She ended up at Mary Margaret’s again mid week to go over summer reading programs for the Middle Schoolers. 

“Which,” Mary Margaret pointed out. “Should really be planned out by the instructors, but between Rory’s maternity leave and Dr. Jekyll’s total disinterest in anything humanities related, if we’re going to have a summer reading program I’m going to have to do it. If I had realized just how much of this sort of thing was going to be dumped in my lap I’d have considered a lot longer before taking the Assistant Director’s job. I was perfectly happy just teaching.”

“But then you would be working for Zelena. And as I recall you said you’d rather crawl over broken glass.: Belle reminded her.

“Well, there is that.” Mary Margaret conceded.. 

“Hey, Belle.” David came into the dining room, shrugging into his shoulder holster. “Did Mary Margaret mention we’re having a barbecue Sunday? We’d love for you to come. We’re inviting the Hatter’s and Kathryn and Fredrick over to meet our new neighbor. You’ll like him. He had like dozens of boxes of books when he moved in.”

Kissing his wife goodbye he headed out for his night shift.

Mary Margaret watched him go with a soft smile. “Emma isn’t the only one who got a new friend with the new neighbors. They're a single father with a ten year old boy. They moved to Storybrooke so Bae could be a day student at Storybrooke Academy. Which shows a definite dedication to your child’s education. I wish all my students’ parents were that interested. It would make my job so much easier.

“Although, apparently it’s a recent divorce and the former Mrs. Gold got the New York condo, so there may have been other reasons for the move as well.” Mary Margret allowed.

“And he and David bonded over having ten year olds?” One of the many things Belle admired about David Nolan was his relationship with his daughter. She was close to her own father, but David actually encouraged Emma’s interests rather than trying to turn her into a perfect little princess.

“That and they had overlapping tours of duty in Afghanistan.” David was vague about his time in the military but Belle was fairly certain he had been in Special Forces before ending up with the Storybrooke Sheriff’s office. “They worked out that they were both involved in some joint US and British operation at one point although they never actually met.”

So Belle brought a fruit salad to the Nolan’s Sunday barbecue. She was helping Mary Margaret lay the table while David got the barbecue going when a boy with a mop of dark hair came around the side of the house carrying a basket covered in a red and white checked napkin.”

“Hello, Bae.” Mary Margaret greeted him, “Belle this is Bailey Gold, our new neighbor. Bae this is Miss Belle, the town’s head librarian.”  
  
After a nod and a shy smile, the boy held out the basket. “Papa sent me ahead with the rolls while he finished frosting the cupcakes. They’re chocolate surprise.” 

“That sounds interesting.” Belle took the basket. “What’s the surprise?”

The boy shrugged. “If he told then it wouldn’t be a surprise. Usually he puts some yummy stuff in the middle. Is Emma around?”

Pointing the boy toward the back of the yard where Emma was ‘helping’ her father with the grill. Belle took the rolls over to the table. “I very much approve of a man who makes chocolate cupcakes.”

“Definitely. I didn’t expect him to actually make the dessert himself. When he asked what to bring I told him the rolls and dessert figuring he’d get them both at the bakery at the same…” She broke off as she unfolded the napkin revealing the rolls.

“Those are home made.” Belle pointed out.

“And they smell fantastic.” Mary Margaret sniffing the fresh baked scent rising from the still warm rolls.

“Looks like I’m going to have to up my game.” Belle had to grin. “My fruit salad is going to come up a little short against the competition.”

Culinary competition got even stiffer when Mr. Gold himself showed up. Bearing another basket with a dozen chocolate cupcakes and a strawberry creme tart worthy of a patisserie. 

The basket was necessitated by his use of a cane. Mary Margaret quickly took the basket and introduced him to Belle. 

“Nice to meet you, Belle. David has praised your work with the children’s reading programs.” 

“Has he?” Suddenly David’s invitation to the barbecue looked a lot less innocent. Three married couples and her and Gold? Yeah, David was definitely trying to set his new and newly single friend up. 

And Mary Margaret was apparently in on it. “I think that’s all the help I need in the kitchen, Belle. Looks like everybody else is hanging around the grill and the drinks chest. Why don’t you and Gold head over there so he can meet everyone.”

The Nolans were not strong on subtlety. As they walked over to the grill, she asked, “You prefer your last name?”

“Or Rum.” He told her. “Nobody I actually know has called me by my given name since I was eight.”  
David waved her toward the ice chest with drinks as he introduced Gold to Jefferson and Alice.

As he shook hands with Jefferson, Gold said, “We’ve met actually although I doubt you remember it. Cora Mills had you give us a presentation when she was trying to get us to let her company manage our retirement funds.” 

Jefferson tilted his head to the side, but surprisingly seemed to connect to Gold’s statement. “You’re _Ephraim_ Gold of Golden Spindle Ltd?”.

“Not any longer.” Gold responded.

“So I understand.” Jefferson took a sip of his soda. Then added with a studied nonchalance. “Word on the Street is Zoso International kept the wrong Gold when they bought you out.”

“She goes by Cassidy now.” Gold was studying Jefferson. “And it wasn’t their decision.”

“Like that was it?” Jefferson turned to David. “So how about those Patriots?”

“Football doesn’t start for another month, Jeff.” David laughingly informed him. 

“Really? Well, at least I can tell Alice I tried on the whole male comradery front.” Jefferson shrugged. “What about you, Gold? Do you follow the sportsball?”

“I’m afraid I’ve never learned the rules of American football. But I subscribe to a ridiculous number of streaming services to keep up with association football.” Gold told him.

“Soccer.” David translated at Jefferson’s confused look.

“Oh, soccer! “ Jefferson perked up at that. “Does your boy play? Gracie and Emma both do and we desperately need more parents to coach. We’re so hard up that they let me help out at practices.”

“You don’t do so bad.” David put in. “Once we showed you how to run the exercises.”

“And we definitely need more parents to volunteer.” David agreed. 

“Bae plays.” Gold told him. “But I don’t know how much help I’d be. I hadn’t played since University even before I was injured.”

David turned and shouted across the yard where a newly arrived Kathryn and Fredrick were handing their tossed salad over to Mary Margaret. “Fredrick, get over here. Gold played on his college soccer team.”

“Fredrick coaches the school soccer teams.” David explained as the other man quickly joined them. 

“And pretty much every other sport aside from football and basketball.” Frederick said. “Which college?” 

“University of Glasgow.” Gold said. “But it was thirty years ago and I only made 1st team my last year.”

Frederick grinned ear to ear. “Mr. Gold, I would like to offer you a wonderful opportunity to become more involved in your son’s school activities.”

“I’ll need to find out if Bae actually wants to be on the team.” Gold sighted. “And make sure it isn’t ‘lame’ to have your father coach.”

Bae actually liked the idea. “It’ll be fun, Papa. You’ll have something to do during my practices,”

When they sat down to eat, Frederick was crowing. “David found us a _real_ footballer to help coach the soccer team.”

Belle, seated next to Gold (she suspected David’s hand in that, Mary Margaret was a little more subtle) commented, “Congratulations. There is no faster way to break into small town life than to become involved with the sports.”

“Assuming I don’t mak' a fankle of it.” Gold said. “They do understand I played in an amateur league?”

“But it was a _University_ team.” Belle held back a giggle. “Americans take their college sports very seriously. There’s a fellow here in Storybrooke that managed to build an entire career out of having played for a team that won the Sugar Bowl.”

“The ‘sugar bowl’? You’re having me on.” 

This time she did giggle as she raised her hand. “No. I swear. He runs the gym. Just ask him. He will tell you about it in _excruciating_ detail.”

“Big bruiser with a man bun and so full of himself it’s a wonder his skull doesn’t burst?” Gold asked.

Across the table from Belle Jefferson burst out laughing. On Gold’s other side Kathryn hid a ladylike snicker behind her napkin. Belle laughed as well. “You’ve met Gary?”

“Signed up for a gym membership so I could use the pool. Fellow tried to sell me personal training sessions to ‘build up that skinny frame’.” Gold said dryly. “I declined after pointing out that I have a physical therapist and my days of needing muscle to work the loading docks are thankful behind me.”

Personally Belle thought the man had a rather attractive frame; small and trim. The bit of extra weight around his middle and the silver in his hair spoke of a man comfortable in his own skin. And his tailored slacks, while a bit overdressed for a picnic, showed off a very nice backside. 

“What do you do Gold?” Kathryn asked, turning the conversation away from what she regarded as inappropriate gossip.

“Well, right now I’m pretty much just Bae’s Papa.” Gold told her. “I started off in tech, but as the company grew I moved into management, mostly the financial side these last few years. But the company was bought out by Zoso International and it seemed prudent to make a fresh start.” 

That sounded like a euphemism for sacked to Belle. She made a note to mention the library’s job search resources to him if she got the chance to talk to him alone.

“Storybrooke is a lovely town for it.” Kathryn agreed. “How did you come to find it?”

“The company had a retreat at the resort a few years ago. I remembered that it seemed like a nice little town and it ticked all the boxes for what I was looking for by way of a place for the boy and I to settle down. I was particularly looking for a good school, but one diverse enough that he would be exposed to a wide variety of other students.”

“Half of our students are on scholarships and we pride ourselves on having a racially and culturally diverse student body.” Mary Margaret put in. “And we go out of our way to try and avoid a divide between the boarding students and the ones who live here in town.”

“Although the town kids do tend to form close bonds.” Alice put in. “It’s hard for them not to since the boarding students go home over the summer.”

Gold looked over at the children’s table where Emma, Grace and Bae were clearly well on the way to being fast friends. “That’s good. Bae’s a bit shy. That’s part of the reason I wanted to move. He didn’t seem to fit in too well at his last school.” 

“We have some summer programs for the kids from Storybrooke and the ones from the public school to mix.” Belle told him. “Bring him by and we can sign him up.”

The conversation turned to other things as they finished their meal. When the desserts were brought out, Gold mentioned, “The Tart has a great deal of uncooked alcohol. If you’d rather avoid that there are plenty of cupcakes.” 

Jefferson took a cupcake. As did Katherine. “I’m on call tonight. And I like chocolate better than liquor in any event.”

Belle tried some of each. The surprise proved to be a heavenly chocolate ganache with cherries mixed in. “These are both delicious. I don’t suppose I could get you to contribute to our back to school bake sale?”

Gold looked pleased. “I’d be happy to. Let me give you my number and you can text me the details.”

As they were exchanging numbers Bae came running up to his father. “Papa, guess what?”

“I’d guess someone forgot to wipe his mouth... with a napkin!” Gold hastily inserted, handing him one as the boy started to wipe the chocolate frosting from his face with his sleeve.

Obediently wiping his face, Bae continued. “Emma says the school is going to have a science camp starting next week. They’re going to build rockets and go to the tide pools and all kinds of cool stuff. Can I go too?”

“We can certainly ask.” Gold said. “But if it starts next week it may be too late to sign up for it. Something that cool probably has a lot of kids who want to go so they may not have any spots left.”

Mary Margaret put it. “As it happens Bae has pull with the Assistant Director. I think we can fit him in. One of the requirements to attend is that a parent has to volunteer to assist for at least one of the weeks. There’s a computer section that sounds like it would be right up your alley.”

The woman cleared the table and packaged up the food. Gold went to help David clean up the grill.

“Good job, man” David bumped his arm. “You got her phone number.”

“She wants me to contribute to the library bake sale.” Gold told him. “It’s not as though a woman like her is going to come on to _me_. She could have her choice of blokes.”

“Well she’s single now.” David told him. “Okay, Gary Legume has been after her but since she told Mary Margaret that the only thing she and Gary have in common is that they're both mammals I don’t think she’s much interested.”

Belle made a point of walking out with Gold as he left the party so she could speak with him privately. Using her professional neutral tone she told him. “The library has a lot of resources to help with job searches. Including a seminar on updating resumes and the application process. If it’s been awhile since you last looked for work you may find the process has changed a great deal.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Gold seemed amused at her offer. “But when the company was sold I negotiated a rather nice severance package in exchange for the non-compete they wanted me to sign. I’ve another two years before I can take a job.”

Well in that case. “Would this non-compete preclude you from volunteering? Because we could really use someone to upgrade the library computers. And I’ve been wanting to expand the computer training programs at the library. I’ve been teaching them myself and I just don’t have time to do more. Or the necessary skills. How are you with Excel?”

“Well, I use it.” Gold admitted. “And the non-compete wouldn’t keep me from teaching. My lawyer mentioned that specifically. But I’m not sure…”

Before he could come up with an excuse, Belle cut him off. “Our library is badly underfunded. I have to rely on volunteers to fill in. This would give you another opportunity to integrate with the community. And frankly any man who bakes scratch cupcakes, rolls and a fancy tart for a neighborhood barbecue clearly has time weighing heavy on his hands.” 

“Not after today.” Gold responded. “I came to a party and left committed to three jobs. Does this happen a lot in Storybrooke? If it does I may start indulging my introvert tendencies.”

  
Despite his snark, Gold showed up when the library opened that Wednesday. “I wanted to make sure Bae was settling in at the science camp before I came. I needn’t have worried. Wee Emma has him well in hand. You were saying something about your system needing upgrading?”

Gold was even less impressed by the library computer system than Belle had been. “Some of this software hasn’t been supported in a decade. What kind of budget have we got for an upgrade?”

Noting the ‘we’ with a mental fist pump, Belle had to tell him. “Depends, how much do you think your cupcakes will bring in at the bake sale?”

Looking down the double row of computers, Gold said, “You're not going to get this whole system up and running off of what you make at a bake sale.”

“Which is exactly why this system is so out of date.” Belle told him. “When I said badly underfunded I meant it.”

“I suppose we could set up an open source cloud that would free up some of the memory on some of the machines.” He sounded doubtful. “But even that’s going to require new equipment. Have you thought about trying to get some outside funding? Those children’s programs you’ve got to bring the public and private school kids together ought to be able to shake some additional money loose.”

”Neither of the schools have that kind of funding either.” Belle said.

“I was thinking of private grant money.” Gold explained. “A lot of corporations have programs set up where they provide funds for worthwhile causes. My old company used to have a couple of Grants we handed out every year.”

“I don’t suppose they’re still available?” 

“I doubt Zoso International has kept them up.” Gold said. “And even if they had, Milah, that’s Bae’s Mum, would probably veto you the minute she saw it was for Storybrooke. She can be petty that way.

“I could do a little research and see what’s available.” He offered. “I’m afraid I’ve never actually written a Grant proposal though. I wasn’t much involved until they brought the finalist up to management for a final decision.”

As it turned out Mary Margaret had written a lot of Grant proposals over the year and was willing to oversee the process if Belle and Gold did the actual work.

Squeezing yet another task into her schedule resulted in doing most of the work on it during her lunch break. 

“When are you going to actually eat.” Gold asked in their first session.

Belle held up a cup of yogurt.

“That’s no lunch. Here have half of my sandwich.. I’ll run across to Granny’s and get us both something more when you have to go back on the front desk.” 

“There’s no eating at the front desk.” Belle told him.

“So you’ll have the whole sandwich and I’ll go get something for myself when your lunch break is over.” He insisted. “Now this educational Grant program at Seven Seas Inc. looks like a good match for what you're doing.”.

They ended up having lunch together most days Gold volunteered. Sometimes they took their paperwork over to Granny’s so as not to be disturbed. 

Bae took to meeting his father at the library after camp let out to walk home with him. If Gold was helping one of the patrons with a computer question Belle would have the boy ‘help’ her with reshelving books. It did not take long for him to get over his shyness and become almost as chatty as Emma.   
  
“I’m going to spend the weekend with my Mom.” Bae told her about a month after he started joining his father at the library..

“Are you?” Belle had learned from experience to be neutral about children having visits with the parent they were not living with. “Are you going to go to her house?”

“No, we’re going to go to the beach.” Bae sounded pleased. “Killian’s not coming. He’s gone away on a trip. So it will be just me and Mom. It’ll be great to see her. I haven’t even had a text from her since we moved.”

Saturday night was the only time Mary Margaret had to do a final edit on the Grant request, so she and Belle settled in at the dining table office with a large pitcher of iced tea. 

She was a little surprised to see Gold show up on the Nolan’s porch around 7:30.

David answered the door. “Hey, what’s up.”

Gold looked very uncomfortable. 

“I’ve come to ask you for a huge favor and I will completely understand if you feel that you can’t or don’t want to get involved.” Gold spread his hands wide.

“You remember I’m a cop, right?” David asked, somewhat amused. “If you need help disposing of a body, Kathryn Knight’s a better choice. She’s a pathologist.”

Gold snorted. “It hasn’t come to that. Yet.”

Taking a deep breath he went on. “Milah, that’s Bae’s Mum, made arrangements to exercise her visitation with Bae this weekend. She was supposed to be here half an hour ago to pick him up and she has shown. Bad enough that I’m likely to have a horribly disappointed child on my hands, but the last time she pulled this stunt, she made up a story about how she came and I wouldn’t let her see the boy. It was my word against hers and the social worker didn’t believe me.

“So, uhm. I was hoping you might be willing to keep an eye out and maybe make a note if she doesn’t come.” Gold shifted leaning more heavily on his cane. “I know it’s a lot to ask…”

“Nah, I do that kind of thing for complete strangers all the time in my job. Mary Margaret’s helping Belle with that Grant thing. Why don’t I grab a couple of beers and we can go back to yours and watch some soccer.” David suggested. 

Gold looked relieved. “Thank you. I’ll be happy to return the favor by watching wee Emma for you when you need it.” 

Mary Margaret suddenly became very interested. “If you’re willing to babysit our hellion, David will get out his surveillance gear and watch your house all night.”

“She’s no that bad.” Gold chuckled. “And she gives the boy a run for his money. Come to that, if Milah doesn’t show, how about I take her and Bae for fish and chips and that new superhero movie tomorrow? Bae will need cheering up for not seeing his Mum and it’d give you two some time alone.”

The look Mary Margaret developed was downright greedy at the prospect. “Belle and I can give you a statement as well. We’ve been sitting here editing this Grant request since well before seven.”

“Of course.” Belle added. “Kathryn’s Tesla is the only car that’s been down the street since we sat down. So it won’t be much of a statement, but I’m happy to give what help I can.”

“Thank you.” Gold said. “If you could email to that effect to my lawyer I’d appreciate it.”


	2. Things Heat Up

Belle sent off an email to Gold’s attorney about not seeing Milah on Saturday and thought nothing more about it until she got a call from a woman identifying herself Miss Blau, Bae’s social worker, “...to speak with you regard your claim that Ms. Cassidy did not attempt to see her son.”

“There isn’t much to say beyond what I put in my email.” Belle told her.

“Yes, well your email says that you were watching the street from around 6:30 to nearly 8:00. Why was that?”

“Mrs. Nolan and I were working at her dining room table. Her dining room window overlooks the entire street. So we would see anyone coming or going. There aren’t that many houses on the street. Traffic is light enough you notice when someone goes by.”

“On a Saturday evening? That’s very... convenient.”

“Not really.” Belle was starting to dislike the social worker’s tone. “But the grant request we were working on was due Tuesday so needs must.”

“Still you could have missed Ms. Cassidy’s arrival. You were busy with your grant proposal after all.” 

“The Golds live directly across the street from the Nolans.” Belle was not going to let this woman twist things. “There is no way we would not have seen and heard someone pull up and park. The windows were open.”

“I see.” Miss Blau said coolly. “And why did you make a note of this?”

“Because Gold asked us to.” Belle said. “He came over to the Nolan’s around 7:30 and said that Ms. Cassidy was supposed to pick up Bae at seven and wanted to know if David would be willing to make a note that she hadn’t come.”

“So Mr. Gold did instigate your statement.” Miss Blau sounded pleased.

“Well he asked us to make them.” Belle told us. “Mainly because he said Bae’s mother had lied on a previous occasion about coming to visit and he was hoping we could verify that she didn’t come if she did it again.”

“It doesn’t seem very likely that Ms. Cassidy would fabricate such a story.”

“It’s a whole lot less likely that four people, one of them a deputy sheriff, would jointly lie about something.” Belle pointed out trying to keep her tone civil. 

“That rather depends on their relationship with Mr. Gold.” Miss Blau said.

Belle said nothing.

“Well?” 

“Oh, was that a question?” Belle used her public service voice. “I haven’t known Gold long. I met him through the Nolans. He’s joined my volunteers here at the library and been most helpful upgrading our computers and assisting with our grant requests.”

“Who looks after Bae while he is volunteering?” Miss Blau asked.

“Bae’s been doing the summer science program the Academy puts on.” Belle told her. “I believe Mr. Gold is scheduled to assist at the computer science part of the program in addition to helping Coach Knight with the soccer teams. He's very involved in Bae’s activities.”

“So you’re saying there is no romantic relationship between you and Mr, Gold?”

Belle bit back her first response which was to tell the woman that was none of her damn business. (Public service taught you to curb your snark.) “I’ve known the man for less than two months. We are barely friends.”

“Ms. Cassidy believes otherwise.”

“Since I have never met Ms. Cassidy I don’t see how she could have reached such a conclusion.” Belle let her voice go tart. “And she certainly could not have heard such a thing from Bae as the boy told me he has not had so much as a text from his mother since they moved to Storybrooke.”

“Storybrooke is a good distance from New York.”

“My father lives in Australia and I hear from him several times a week.” 

The Social Worker made a sound that Belle chose to interpret as reflecting interest rather than disbelief. “It’s good that you are not involved with Mr. Gold. He behaved very cruelly to Ms. Cassidy during the divorce and it’s my understanding his business practices are not dissimilar.”

Since this was totally at odds with her experience of Gold she bit her tongue. 

Ms. Blau seemed disappointed by her lack of response. “What happened after Mr. Gold requested you to write the statement?” 

“David went home with Gold to watch the football.”

“Football isn’t being played right now.” Miss Blau sounded triumphant. 

“ _Association football_. What you Yanks call soccer.” Belle deliberately thickened her accent. “And it’s played somewhere all year round. David and Gold are both coaching the school teams.”

“That Social Worker seems more than a little biased.” Belle told Gold the next time they took their lunch break together. “She as much as called me a liar. And insinuated you were unduly influencing me. How did you manage to get custody of Bae with her doing the home study?”

Gold looked around carefully judging that the children were too far off to overhear. “A very good, and expensive, lawyer. Milah doesn’t really want Bae to live with her. She’s just trying to get more money. Which, confidentially, I'd have paid if it meant keeping Bae. But she sabotaged her case by having Bae in the car when her boyfriend got arrested for driving under the influence. Milah had apparently been drinking as well and got in a fight with the cop.”

“That’s hardly good parenting. Not to mention rather self defeating.”

“The officer who stopped them felt the same way.” Gold told him. “Her incident report had words like ‘’obstreperous’, ‘abusive’ and ‘judgment heavily impaired’ in it. Mal, my lawyer, sent the woman flowers after she read it.”

Belle frowned. Gold had become a friend despite what she had told that Social Worker. “In my experience people who are mean drunks are just generally mean. The liquor has little to do with it.

Gold dropped his eyes to his sandwich. “Milah has a sharp tongue. Once Bae came along I mostly let her have her own way so as not to… set her off. 

“It helped that she traveled a lot.” Gold sighed. “She’s not a _bad_ parent. I’d have gotten Bae away from her long ago if she had been. She’s just… Her attention is always caught by the newest bright and shining thing. It makes her very good at her job, but it doesn’t make for good parenting. I find Bae learning and growing endlessly fascinating, but Milah got bored with taking care of a baby fairly quickly.

“I have no idea how she kept from getting bored with me for as long as she did.” One side of Gold’s mouth curled up. “Actually that’s not true. I’m pretty sure she stayed with me as long as she did because I was her ticket to an array of bright and shiny new things.

“Fortunately my very good and expensive lawyer is even more cynical than I am. Mal insisted on a very stringent prenuptial agreement, so when Milah decided she was bored with me, she got to take far less of our shiny things with her than she expected.” 

. .   
They managed to raise enough money from the September bake sale to be able to buy some new hardware for the computers. Gold made a bunch of individual tarts as well as several dozen of his surprise cupcakes and they all sold out. He set up a workbench in the back by her office to install the new equipment.

One day as she manning the front desk she happened to glance back at him. Gold was sitting back watching her with a dreamy expression. Once she met his eyes he dropped his eyes quickly and hastily screwing down some piece of equipment. The tips of his ears tinged slightly pink.

It made him look rather elfin. Belle had a sudden urge to go over and brush his hair back.

Where did that come from? Hurriedly she gathered up the books she had cataloged and moved them to the cart for the volunteers to tag and put out on the new book shelf. She had been meaning to take an inventory of supplies and this seemed like a good time to be somewhere else. Somewhere not in line of sight of Gold. 

Shortly before Halloween, Gold came in to volunteer wearing a very nice suit. As she admired it she wondered where he had to go that would require him to be that dressed up. He came up to the desk..  
  
“I was wondering if you would like to go out for lunch.” Gold asked nervously. “With me that is. Uhm, as my guest. I thought… Tony’s perhaps?”

“Sure.” They had continued to have lunch together even as they had finished up the Grant applications. But they usually only went across the street to Granny’s.

Once they were seated, Belle asked, “Why the special lunch today?” 

She remembered noticing from the paperwork he filled out when he started volunteering that his birthday was the winter solstice. So it was not that. She hoped he was not about to tell her he had gotten a real job and would be leaving the library. “Are we celebrating something?”

He winced. “No. Not celebrating. That wouldn’t be right. But…”

Fiddling with his silverware, he took a deep breath. “The Judge finally signed my divorce decree. I’m not married any longer.”

“Should I be commiserating you then?” Belle asked. “I’m here if you need a shoulder to cry on. Or a drinking buddy to make sure you get home.”  
“I’d no turn down a drink.” He admitted. “But truth to tell I’m not sorry to be rid of Milah. I tried to make it work for Bae sake. We even went to counseling, but…”

They were interrupted by the waiter coming for their order. They decided on a carafe of the house Chianti. “Despite what I said, I have to work and you need to pick up Bae so cocktails are out.”

The waiter had their antipasti and wine out before they had a chance to start up their conversation again. As they started on their food Belle asked, “What made you finally decide to leave Milah. If you don’t mind my asking.”

“She betrayed me.” Gold’s voice was sour. “It wasn’t that she was seeing someone else. Well, she was but we could have worked through that with the counseling. When Zoso made its move to take over the company, she voted to let them. I’d been fighting tooth and nail to defeat their hostile take over and when it came down to the wire she threw in with Zoso. Apparently because they offered her a major promotion. That was the final straw. 

“After that things got rather ugly. She tried to break our prenup. When she couldn’t do that she went back on our agreement that I would have residential custody of Bae. I’m afraid after that I started acting less like a husband and more like a ruthless competitor. I can’t say I particularly like how I nasty I got when I was reacting to her. Thankfully it’s over now and I can let it go.

The waiter brought their food. “And this is not the sort of conversation you’re supposed to have on a first date.” Gold quickly took a bite of his pasta. Glancing at her a little questioningly.

Belle mentally kicked herself. An invitation to a sit down lunch. Him in a suit and tie. Wine. She should have twigged to what he intended without having to be told.

On the other hand... 

“Well, it’s not really a first date is it?” She put down her fork and rested her chin on her folded hands, smiling coquettishly. “That would have been the barbecue where David and Mary Margaret introduced us. And there have been all those lunches at the library and Granny’s.”

“Those were more by way of friends and work colleagues eating together. It wouldn’t have been right to actually ask you out when I was still married.” He muttered looking down at his pasta.

“I do appreciate your integrity.” Given the number of men who had outright lied to her about their relationship status she did. But she had long since decided that Gold was an inherently good man despite any questionable past business practices. She raised her wine glass. “A toast then. To new beginnings and maybe new relationships.”

“I’d like that.” Their glasses clinked.

After taking a sip, he asked. “So there’s a Fathom event showing Thursday evening in Castle Rock. It’s Balanchine's Jewels.” You mentioned that you studied ballet. Would you like to go? David says there’s a good Indian place we could have dinner at before the show. I’m afraid I can’t stay out too late. My sitter has an 11:00 curfew.”

“Do you even like ballet?” If so it would be a first in her experience. No straight male she had ever met liked ballet. Even her father had only grudgingly come to her recitals.

“Well I like Balanchine. So I’ll enjoy the music.” Then he grinned. “As for the dancing, it’s a bunch of pretty girls in skimpy costumes. How bad could it be?”

Telling herself not to discourage a man who was willing to show an interest in her interests. She agreed.

The next day she gave him a library book that explained some of the basics of ballet.

He seemed to enjoy the show. Or at least he managed to pay attention for the entire performance. She hesitantly asked him about it on the drive home.

“It wasn’t bad.” He told her. “Not sure I’d want to sit through one every week, but as a bi-monthly thing I’d not mind. How do you feel about opera? I noticed on the Fathom Events site they broadcast the Met’s performances. The one thing Milah got in the divorce that I’ll actually miss are our season tickets.”

“I’ve only seen a couple. Local performances where my dance school performed, but I enjoyed them.” And if he could learn about ballet she could try out opera. “Did Milah get you interested in opera?”

“Milah regarded opera as an excuse to dress up and network. I’m the fan. My Aunties, the woman who raised me, loved classical music and opera.” He smiled. “They would bake a nice dessert evenings when there was a good broadcast on BBC 3 and we would all sit around their old stereo system and listen. Aunt Maggie would even knit in time to the music.” 

After that story Belle could hardly turn down the suggestion of taking in the next opera with him. 

That weekend the Nolans and the Hatters had a camping trip planned. They invited Bae to join them.

“Well actually they invited both of us.” Gold told her. “But hiking into the wilderness with a pack on my back is not something I’m up for, but Bae is excited about it. Shall we make an evening of it? You mentioned wanting to go to that seafood place on the pier.

Bae away for the night opened up other prospects besides dinner in Belle’s mind.

Saturday was spent cleaning the apartment and doing laundry. Belle wanted clean sheets on the bed. Just in case. She also selected a lacy blue bra and panties set to wear under her navy dress with the lace top. Which Gold complimented emphatically when he arrived to pick her up. 

The restaurant was rather ramshackled on the outside. Inside was pleasant though in an old fashioned linen tablecloth kind of way. Glancing around Gold said. “This is nicer than I expected. I’ve only ever gotten fish and chips from their food truck with Bae.. I was a little worried I was taking you to a high end chippie.

“Not that I’d have minded.” He added. “If that’s what you wanted. But it would rather hark back to being fifteen and walking out with Elinor MacTavish.”

“Was Elinor MacTavish your teenage sweetheart?” 

“Aye. First date, first girlfriend, first kiss.” Gold grinned. “And friendly rivals for the highest marks in class from the time we were eight. Then when I was fifteen I realized that my rival had a kind smile and beautiful dark eyes. I think she was rather surprised when I asked her out. But after that we were inseparable until she went off to Cambridge and I ended up staying in Glasgow for university.”

“Glasgow is an excellent school.” Belle told him. “Nothing to be ashamed of.”

“I’m not.” Gold picked up the wine menu. “And I was accepted at Cambridge. But the scholarship they offered wouldn’t pay for my living expenses. So it made more sense to stay in Glasgow living with my Aunties and working in their shop to pay for my keep.

“And Elinor went on to become one of Scotland’s leading climate scientists, married a highlander she met on one of her field studies who adores her as she deserves. They’ve four kids, including boy triplets who, based on the Christmas card she sends every year, make Bae and Emma look sedentary by comparison.” He smiled over the top of the menu. “What about you? Any old flames fondly remembered?”

“Not from my teen years.” Belle confessed. “I studied ballet. Not a lot of opportunity to get acquainted with boys and moving to states my junior year did nothing to help my reputation as being a rather odd girl. There was a fellow in grad school, Will Scarlet. But I was his rebound from his college girlfriend and he went back to her when they met up again a couple of years later.

“We’re still friends.” She went on. “I was best person at their wedding. There hasn’t been anyone long term since Will.”

“How are the grant requests coming?” He asked after they had started on their main courses. Her Seafood Newberg was divine. And the bite he had offered of his salmon steak was almost as good.

“We’ve had a couple of encouraging responses.” She told him proudly. “The folks at Seven Seas seem quite interested. The Mayor is going to some big political fundraiser that some of their board members are attending and agreed to talk to them about it while she’s there.”

“That’s excellent.” Gold took a sip of his wine. “The Mayor is pretty good at fundraising. She’s already talked me out of a donation to her campaign. I was a little surprised to learn she was Mary Margaret’s step-mother. She can’t be that much older than Mary Margaret.”

“Nine years.” Belle told him. “Mary Margaret’s Dad pretty much robbed the cradle. And while she was not a very good maternal figure for Mary Margaret, she is an excellent Mayor.”

“She didn’t have a very good role model for motherhood.” Gold said. “Cora Mills is head of the investment company Jefferson used to work for. The woman’s a shark. And not one of the good kind.”

“Alice blames her for Jefferson’s breakdown.” Belle put in. “Apparently she encourages her workers to take stimulants so they can work longer hours.”

“That’s common in tech as well.” Gold admitted. “I got my first programming job while I was working on my PhD and still living with my Aunts. My supervisor gave me some pills to keep me alert during a marathon forty-eight hour debugging session. When I finally got home my Aunts nearly took my head off. Having two elderly wee Glaswegian women rake you over the coals will keep you away from drugs for ever after.

“Well except for alcohol and caffeine.” He held up his wine glass.

“Since both are ones I indulge in as well, you get a pass on those.” Not that he drank all that much she had noticed. She had never seen him drink anything stronger than wine.

The conversation ranged over a wide variety of topics: some personal history, mostly general until they ran out of excuses to linger at the table.  
  
Their drive back was fairly quiet. Gold played some soft music heavy on the electric violin, that Belle did not recognize.

When they got to her apartment She asked ``Would you like to come up?” 

Her voice was not as certain as she would have liked. “What with Bae gone no reason for you to have to rush home.”

“I’d like that.” Gold’s voice was a little shaky as well. But not, she thought, with uncertainty. 

They did not speak until they got inside. “Can I get you a drink?” Belle asked, setting down her purse.

Gold considered. “If it’s no trouble a cup of tea might be better after all that wine with dinner.”

“I’ll put the kettle on.” Alcohol had a deleterious effect on performance after all. It was good when a man was realistic about his limitations.

When they finished their tea there was a long silence. Clearly she was going to have to make the first move here. So she slid over and put her hand on his thigh. “You know this is our third date even by your count.”

“Uhm, I wasn’t sure that was still… meaningful.” Gold shifted to face her.

“I’m old fashioned.” Belle said. “I like to get to know a man before I invite him home.”

“So do I pass the admittance test?” His hands came up and ran down her bare arms.

“Very much so.” Her hands went around his neck to caress his hair. It was wonderfully soft.

They leaned in to kiss about the same time. His hands went to her back. Palms stroking up and down.

Several minutes passed before they broke the embrace. Belle suggested, “Would you like to take this to the bedroom?”

“Oh, yes.” Gold looked a little surprised.

“You can get rid of the coat and tie you know.” 

Before he folded his jacket he took something out of an inner pocket. Belle had to smile. “For a man that wasn’t sure where things were going you seem to have come prepared.”

The blush reached his ears. She definitely liked that. “David was sure about the third date rule and insisted I should… come prepared. But he hasn’t dated in longer than me so I didn’t want to presume.”

“You’re not presuming.” She took his hand and led him to the bedroom.

Three orgasms and two condoms later, Belle was feeling very, very mellow. And more than a little exhausted.

Gold came back from the bathroom and gingerly sat down on the bed. “May I stay for awhile and hold you?” He asked softly.

“I’d like that.” She wondered why he felt he had to ask. “You can stay all night. If you want.”

“I’d like that very much.” He slid his arm around her and settled in next to her on the pillow. “Maybe take you to breakfast in the morning? I want… I really like being with you, Belle. Not just… not that this wasn’t wonderful, but having you in my life is wonderful.”

They fell asleep cuddled up together.  


The next morning Belle was woken by a phone ringing. And Gold muttering under his breath in something that was not English and sounded decidedly profane as he groped for his trousers. It was still dark, but seemed to be raining heavily so she could only guess at the time.

Gold had finally gotten his phone out of his pocket. The cursing stopped as soon as he saw the screen.. “David, is something wrong?”

He glanced at the window. “Uhm, no I was still asleep and hadn’t noticed. When will you be getting back.”

Listening to David, he was now looking at her. “That soon. Sure, I’ll meet you there. Would it be all right if I got hold of Belle and asked her to come?”

Another pause. And then he dryly responded. “I do hope the kids can’t hear you. See you there.”

Turning to her, he said, “It seems the camping trip has been canceled due to inclement weather. To make it up to the kids they are heading to Granny’s for pancakes. Would you like to come? I did offer you breakfast after all. I’m afraid we only have a half an hour to get ready though.”

“I can be ready in half an hour.” Belle told him. “If you don’t mind using one of those disposable razors I can even offer you a shower and shave. Although with only a half an hour we better shower separately.”

Gold blinked. “Okay, now I’m going to have the image of us showering together in my head all day. I wonder if David would like to plan another camp out soon. Very soon.”

Belle giggled all the way to the bathroom.

Everyone else was there and getting ready to order by the time they showed up. They got smirks from all the adults as they sat down..

Bae was looking at his father and frowning. “Papa, did you stay up all night? You said you wouldn’t work all night once we moved to Storybrooke.”

“No.” Gold shifted uncomfortably. “Why would you think that?” 

“You're wearing your new shirt still. The one you bought to take Ms. Belle to dinner. You always get your shirts washed before you wear them again.” 

Jefferson muttered, “Busted.”

Gold sighed. “Belle, would you order for Bae and I? Come along, son. We’ll be back by the time the food comes.”

He steered Bae out onto the cover patio. Belle watched as the two of them had what appeared to be a very serious conversation. At the end of it they nodded solemnly at each other and fist bumped. 

When the two of them returned, Bae came up to her. “I think it’s fine for you to be Papa’s girlfriend. Cause you’re nice to him. Papa deserves to have a nice friend, And you both like books. So I don’t mind if you guys decide to do sleep overs.”

Gold dropped his face into his hand. Belle managed at Bae without looking like she was laughing at him. “Thank you. I promise to be nice to your Papa.”

She was fairly certain she was never going to hear the end of this from Mary Margaret and Alice. 

As it turned out it was Jefferson and Alice that initiated the next camp out. They volunteered to take all three of the kids to camp out on one of the islands off the coast. 

“I just hope the weather holds this time.” Gold told her. “Would you like to come to mine for dinner? And perhaps stay over?”

She did not need much convincing. 

When she got to Gold’s she discovered that instead of cooking he had a great many take out containers from Tiana’s Place. “You didn’t have to do this. Tiana's is incredibly pricey. I’d have been perfectly happy with spaghetti.”

“This is by way of due diligence.” Gold was grinning. “I think Tiana is trying to sweeten me up. When she found out I was making an offer for the building her restaurant is in she insisted on providing us with tonight’s dinner.” 

“You’re what?” Belle was not sure she heard him right.  
  
“The owner of that part of the boardwalk has decided to sell up. He’s over-leveraged and he can’t keep tenants who are willing to pay him as much as he needs to cover his loans.” He shrugged. “Very bad business practice. Storybrooke can’t support rentals at the same rate as New York or even Portland. But his greed works to my benefit.

“It’s a nice little property. Maintenance has been neglected so it’ll be a couple of years before it actually shows a profit, but the tenants are solid and I’ve been looking for some local investment opportunities.” . 

“Can you afford that?” Belle asked with concern. “Don’t you need that money to live on? I mean until you actually get income coming in”

Gold looked confused. “Where did you get the idea I’ve no income?”

“You’re not working.” 

“Well, no, I’m not employed as such.” Gold admitted. “But I’ve income from my investments.

“Since I bought the house I’ve been reinvesting my investment income though. Haven’t needed it. I’ve several patents that I kept separate from the business. So they didn’t go with the company when it was sold.” He smirked a little. “My royalty fees have actually increased since I’ve been licensing them to other companies.”

“Oh.” Knowing that he had income eased her conscience a little about all the time he had been volunteering for her at the library. “Is that enough to cover your expenses? My writer friends always complain about how little they make on their royalties.”

“These aren’t book royalties. Well, I co-authored a text book on Cybersecurity that’s still in print, but that’s more by way of marketing than income.” He went on. “They’re royalties for the use of algorithms I developed for encryption protocols. This year I’ve been averaging about 30K.”

“Even in Storybrooke $30,000 a year isn’t a lot to live on. Bae’s tuition must take up most of that.” She should probably insist on paying for more of their dates.

“30K a month, Belle.” 

She must have gaped at him like a fish, because he developed a confused look. “Did you think I’d lost my money? I told you that Milah didn’t get as large a settlement in the divorce as she wanted. Even though the Judge awarded her the bulk of our publicly traded shares, I kept all of my original equity holdings.”

“I don’t know what that means.” Belle admitted.

“Ah.” Gold sat back. “You remember my very good and expensive attorney? When we took the company public she made sure I retained an ownership interest over and above the public shares. So even when Milah turned on me and voted to sell the company out from under us they still had to buy me out and my attorney made sure it was in real money not stock they could devalue.”

“Wait, you _owned_ the company you worked for?” Belle asked.

“Aye.” Gold nodded. “You didn’t realize that? You were sitting there at the picnic when Jefferson asked me about the company.”

“Rum, I don’t know anything about business. And I certainly didn’t follow what you and Jefferson were talking about. Not to mention Jefferson… has mental health issues. Nobody pays much attention to what he says.”

”Jefferson Hatter was a wunderkind analyst on Wall Street before his breakdown.” Gold informed her. “These days his anxiety issues keep him from investing other people's money, but he’s far and away the most successful day trader I’ve ever met. He’s forgotten more about finance than I’ll ever know.” 

It was good to hear that Jefferson and Alice were doing alright financially, but that did not really address the important point. “So you’re not the struggling single parent you pretend to be?”

“I’m a single parent, who’s trying to do what’s best for my boy. Not always successfully. But I’m certain I never suggested money was one of my problems.”

No, he hadn’t, Belle realized. She had just assumed... “How much money do you have?”

“That’s… hard to say.” Gold hedged.

“If you don’t want to tell me it's fine. It’s really none of my business.” Belle put in quickly.

“No, you have every right to know. It’s just,” Gold spread his hands, “It’s not a hard number. I’ve no idea how to value the patents. And I’ve invested in a couple of start up companies that will probably be worth something when they get up and running, but right now I couldn’t really sell.”

He paused clearly doing some calculations in his head. “The real estate with Tiana's building and including this house which I don’t really count - it’s Bae’s home not an investment - nets out at about seven million. The liquid investments come in at a little over twenty-six.”

“You have _thirty-three million dollars_!” Belle squeaked.

“At minimum.” Gold nodded. 

“I… I need to think about this.” Belle got up. Her mind whirling. “I need time to think about this.”

“Belle...” Gold's voice seemed far away.

“Just… I’ll call you.” 

Grabbing her purse she rushed out the door with Gold calling out, “Belle!” in the background.

She had sense enough to know she should not drive like this. She dashed across the street and pounded on the Nolan’s door.

Mary Margaret answered and promptly ushered her to a seat. “Belle, what’s wrong?”

“It’s Rum. He has money. Lots and lots of money. Millions!”

“Did he make it by doing something bad?” Mary Margaret looked confused. “Like dealing drugs? Did David let a _drug dealer_ move in across the street without checking?”

“No.” Belle took a breath to calm herself. “He had a company that did some sort of computer security that got bought out and they paid him like thirty some odd million dollars.”

“Oh.” Mary Margaret looked confused. “Nothing wrong with that. Is there?”

“He’s a millionaire. A _multi-millionaire_. I’m a librarian. A public librarian.” Belle took another breath to try and keep from screeching. “Men like that want trophy wives. They don’t get involved with librarians! This isn’t a fairy tale. I thought… I thought he was serious. That he wanted a relationship.”

“He dumped you! Why the bastard!” Mary Margaret was incensed. 

“Noooo.” Belle tried to explain. “But he’s _rich_. Why would he want me?”

“I’m not understanding this.” Mary Margaret looked confused. “You went over there tonight for dinner. What happened?”

“He had a bunch of food from Tiana’s. I guess she offered to make a nice meal cause he’s buying her building.”

“He’s buying Tiana’s restaurant?” Mary Margaret looked more confused.

“No. Just the building. He’s going to let her keep the restaurant.”

“That’s wonderful!” Mary Margaret smiled. “She was so worried that she’d have to find a new place because the owner was selling. Her restaurant is a draw for tourists. It would really hurt the whole boardwalk if she left.”

“Well, yes, I suppose it is good for Tiana. And the town.” Belle had not considered that. “I guess the dinner was supposed to be a celebration. Rum was pleased about buying the building. He said it was a nice little property. But I was concerned how he’d be able to afford it and that’s when he told me how much money he makes. From some patents and investments and other real estate.”

“And it bothers you that he’s well off?” Mary Margaret asked.

“He’s not ‘well off’. Well off is a steady job with a good salary like a lawyer or a doctor. He’s a fucking millionaire!” Mary Margaret seemed to not understand. Then again Mary Margaret came from money. It was different for her. 

“I don’t see why that makes a difference to you having a relationship with him.” Mary Margaret said. “Kathryn and Jefferson are both millionaires and they’re married to a school teacher and the manager of an art gallery. Come to that I’m technically a millionaire, this house is worth more than a million, and I’m married to a sheriff’s deputy.”

Said deputy came down the stairs just then. “Emma’s finished her homework. I told her she could watch TV for an hour. Hey, Belle, I thought you were having dinner with Gold tonight.”

“David, did you know Gold is a _multi-millionaire_? Mary Margaret asked her husband accusingly.

It was David’s turn to look confused. “Well he’s never mentioned an amount, but he has to have money, right? I mean he lives off his investments, which let him pay full tuition for Bae. And he bought that house which was on the market for a million eight.

“Although,” David added thoughtfully. “He did mention he got them to come down on the price because he was paying cash.”

Belle dropped her head into her hands and groaned. He paid cash for the house.

“Uhm, how is this a problem?” David asked.

“Mostly that he didn’t tell her.” Mary Margaret responded.

“Well, it’s not exactly an easy thing to drop into a conversation.” David said. “You didn’t know how much I made until we were talking about moving in together.”

“He said he was an unemployed single Dad.” Belle said. “There’s a huge difference between that and making $360,000 a year off of royalty payments. Mary Margaret at least knew you were a cop and could make a guess at your income.”

“I think what he said was that his company got bought out and he quit.” David said. “And from what he did tell Jeff, I got the impression there was a pretty good pay off when he left.”

And it seemed even David had understood about Gold’s financial situation. How had she been so blind?   
  
“In any case I don’t see how this matters.” David went on. “You guys are clearly crazy about each other. Not to mention there’s that line from that Marilyn Monroe movie Mary Margaret likes about how it’s as easy to fall in love with a rich man as a poor one. It’s a good thing he can support his family.”.

“A family to which I’ve nothing to bring to the table.” Belle growled.  
David looked bewildered. Mary Margaret suggested. “Maybe you should leave this to me. Go make us some tea.”

Looking grateful to escape David did as he was told.

Mary Margaret sat next to her and patted her shoulder. “I think you’re underselling yourself. And I’m pretty sure Gold doesn’t care about your job. It’s you he likes. You’ll feel better after a cup of tea.”. . 

The tea did help calm her and gave her time to think. Maybe she was overreacting. But she and Gold definitely needed to talk about this. 

Then there was a knock on the door. David answered. “Hey. I figured you’d be over soon.”

“I think I screwed up badly, but I’m not sure how.” Gold sounded as unhappy as Belle felt. 

“Yeah, Belle’s in the living room with Mary Margaret.” David told him. “She’s really upset. Although I don’t get it either. C’mon back to the kitchen. I’ll get you a beer.”

“If you don’t want to talk to him, I’ll drive you home.” Mary Margaret offered. “But, in my experience it’s better to settle a fight right away before it has time to fester.”

Belle doubted Mary Margaret and David ever fought over anything more serious than who left the milk out overnight. But it was probably good advice anyway. “How do I settle something like this?”

“Well, if what you’re worried about is that the two of you aren’t on the same page as to where your relationship is going you could just ask the man.” Mary Margaret suggested. “He doesn’t seem like he would lie to you.”

No, but Belle was not sure she actually wanted to hear the answer. Still she had always prided herself on living up to her mother’s axiom of doing the brave thing. So she squared her shoulders and headed into the kitchen.

Gold was seated at the breakfast bar with a bottle of beer, which he did not appear to be drinking. David was leaning on the bar across from him clearly trying to cheer him up. He straightened up as soon as she came into the room.

“David, would you mind…”

“Mary Margaret and I should check on Emma.” He interrupted her as he headed for the door. “Feel free to stay as long as you like.”

Seating herself next to Gold at the breakfast bar she took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry.” Gold beat her to an opening comment.

“Glad to hear it.” She asked, “Why?”

“I upset you. I don’t want to hurt you, Belle. And I certainly didn’t mean to mislead you, but intent is meaningless when I apparently did.” He looked miserable. “Do you think you can forgive me?”

“I apparently misled myself. Because everybody else seems to have known that you were rich.” Belle admitted. “But we need to talk.”

Gold grimaced. “Alright.”

“Am I, are _we_ just a good time or do you actually see us having a future together?” 

It took him a moment before he said anything. When he finally spoke it was quietly. “All the books I read about going through a divorce said that you should wait a year before starting another relationship

“Of course they were also rather vague about when the year was supposed to start.” He tentatively reached out for her hand. She let him take it. “And we’ve only known a few months, if you think it’s too soon I completely understand. I won't press you. I can wait as long as you need. Even if it turns out you never feel that way. But I’m in this for the long term, Belle. The only future I’m interested in is the one where you and I are together.”

“Oh, Rum.” She hugged him. He immediately pulled her even closer pressing his cheek into her hair.   
  
She was the one to pull away first. He let go a bit reluctantly. Taking her hand again as if afraid she might run away.

Again.

“I didn’t intend to force you into a declaration of affection.” She told him. “It’s just… I think I could grow very attached to you and if you were just looking for a friend with benefits while you hunted for some high powered wealthy business woman, I don’t think I could stand it.”

“I wasn’t looking for love of any kind, Belle.” Gold seemed mildly affronted. “Until I met you I figured it would be just Bae and I. And I was perfectly content with that. But then I got to know you and it was like a light came on in a room I didn’t even know was dark.”

If he was going to say things like that she could not help but kiss him. Which he enthusiastically returned.

Some time later as she snuggled against his chest, she decided there was one more thing that they needed to make clear. “I’m not going to let you subsidize the library.. I’ll accept contributions to the library in a reasonable amount, say no more than Jefferson or Kathryn donate, but it would not be right for you to let the citizens of Storybrooke off the hook to support the library just because you’re involved with the librarian.”

“I had already more or less figured out you would feel that way.” Then he sheepishly added. “Uhm, I may have put in a good word for your grant request though. My lawyer’s girlfriend is the daughter of Seven Seas’ CEO. But Ursella is big on literacy, so it’s not like they wouldn’t have been interested even without my mentioning you.”

“I suppose that’s alright.” Belle decided. “I mean I asked the Mayor to schmooze them. I can hardly complain if you do the same.”

Sitting on this stool was not the most comfortable place to cuddle. “If it’s still an option maybe we should go back to your place. We can reheat dinner in the microwave.”

“Just don’t ever let Tiana know we did that to her food.” Gold chuckled helping Belle off his lap. “She’d never be willing to feed us again.”

Belle foresaw more of Tiana and probably other expensive restaurant meals in her future. Although Gold seemed just as happy with fish and chips off the food truck. Maybe dating a multimillionaire would not be that overwhelming after all.

When they got to the front hall, Gold called up the stairs. “David, we’re heading home. Sorry to have bothered you.”

“Together?” David appeared on the landing above them. Seeing Gold’s hand resting in the small of her back he gave them a thumbs up. “Glad to see it. I’ll text Jefferson to be sure to call before he brings Bae home.”

“Does the entire neighborhood need to be informed of our personal life?” Gold complained as they walked back across the street.

“You were the one who wanted a small town to raise your son in.” Belle had to giggle. 

“True.” Gold took her hand.

There was another thing she wanted made clear before they got done to the more intimate parts of the evening. “For the record, if we do end up… committed.”

Gold smiled broadly at that, but she was not going to let him distract her from her point. “I expect that very good and expensive attorney of yours to draft up a contract every bit as tight as the one you had with Milah so that there is no question about finances.  
Gold chuckled. “At least I know you’re not after my money.” And kissed her right there in the middle of the street.

They only broke apart when they were caught in the headlights of Kathryn’s Tesla. She stuck her head out the window and called to them. “Would you mind terribly taking this inside? It's not that I object to the display, although Miss Ginger is probably clutching her pearls, but my husband is on the other side of you and I’d rather like to be following your example.”

“Now literally _everybody_ in the neighborhood knows about us.” Gold muttered as they hurried to his front door.

“So let’s take advantage.” Belle pulled him through the door and to the stairs. “The food and microwave will still be there in a couple of hours.

“It would even be fine for breakfast.”

The end


End file.
